Joshua ashton



J, ASHTON.

Grain Winnowen Pa t ented July 20, 1869.

Wi? esses:

N. PEIERS Phum-Linw u her. Washinglnn. D. C.

eluded States ailment deflate.

Letters Patent No. 92,774, dated July 20, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN? FANNINGeMILLS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the name.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I; JOSHUA ASHTON, of Red Wing, 1n the county of Goodhue, and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fanning-Mills; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying- Third, in an improved arrangement of the orifices in the sieves for separating the grain;

Fourth, in an improved construction of the sievesupporting shoe, whereby the pitch of the upper series can be adjusted without changing the others; and

Fifth, in an adjustable air-regulatingslide for regulating the blast, and the delivery of thegrain upon the final screen. p

Figure 1 represents a sideelevation of a fanningmill, constructed according to my improvements, certain parts being broken out;

Figure2represents a partial section, showing the arrangement of the adjustable air-blast regulator;

Figure 3 represents a partial plan view of one of the sieves; and

. Figure 4 represents a plan of one of the vanes of the fan. v a

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. I construct the curb of the fan in two parts A B, separating them preferably onthe horizontal line 0,-

making the upper part B readily removable for access to the fan, for repairing or other-purposes and to se= cure the part B in place, I provide two buttons E upon the cross-beam of the frame at the top, for clamping it down. V

I arrange the-opening'ibrthe grain to pass from the hopper through the side G, as represented iii-dotted lines in fig. 2, discharging it in the direction opposite to that which it afterwards takes to pass to the sieves. I also extend the shoe H in this direction more than as now constructed, to cause the grain to pass over a board, I, for aconsiderable distance before arriving at the screen, to cause it to spread and be evenly distributed when it arrives at the sieves. v

The hopper-slide G is arranged upon the part G of the hopper, for adjusting the opening for the grain.

I suspend the shoe H by the elastic-metallic bands K, two on each side, arranged to cross each other, and riveted together at the place of crossing. This arrangement I find much more durable, and it mainimproved arrangement of springsuspending devices for the shoe which support the sieves;

tains the shoe more exactly in the required position than'anyarrangement now in use.

. As a better arrangement of the-vanes of the fan to.

induce the air to flow in as much as possible, I taper the said vanes from the centre outwards, as represented in' fig. 4, whereby the space is enlarged toward the opening, while the area of thefans is increased in the' opposite direction, to' take up the air and force it towards the sieves.

I propose to construct the sieves for separating the oats from the wheat of sheet-metal, preferably of zinc, and form the orifices, as represented at L, fig. 4, similar to the forms of the grains of wheat, but not ]0ng.el10l1gl1 in any. direction for the oats topass through.

The sieve thus formed of sheet-metalpresents a smooth surface, over which the cats slide freely without being thrown upon their ends, as in the case of the wirosieves'and thereby, when the orifices are constructed as shown, more effectually separate the two grains. Y

I propose to construct the sieve-shoe in two parts,

and pivot the upper part at the rear to the posts 0, common to both, suspending the front of the part N,

by thumb-screw P, passing through the beam K, supported on the posts S, whereby the said part N may be raised or lowered at the outer end, to adjust the pitch of the sieves thereon without afi'ecting that of the sieves in the lower part.

- For governing the blast of airforaction on the final sieve T, I "provide the adjustable slide or defiector U, whereby, according to its position nearer to or further from the 'frontof the shoe, the; action of the blast may be caused to be more or less intense upon vthe final sieve, and the grain, may be delivered nearer toor further from the front, which I find of great advantage in separating the lighter grains and other matter which fails to be separated beforefthe specific gravity of which changes materially in different qualities of grain.

Having thus described my invention,

I claim as'new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The arrangement of the opening-and the adjusting-slide on the part G of the hopper, the shoe H, and

distributing-board I, all substantially as specified. 2. The sieve-shoe suspended by the elastic metallic bands K, when arranged substantially as specified.

3. The-improved sheet-metal sieves, provided with orifices L, formed substantially as specified.

4. The arrangement of the shoe in two parts, M and N, when the partN is hinged and suspended by thumb-screw P, substantially-as specified.

5. Theadjustable slide U, arranged between the final sieve and the upper sieves, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

Witnesses: JOSHUA ASHTON.

FRANK Ives, DWIGHT M. BALD'wnv. 

